“I’m so sorry your birth went this way. I wish we could be doing this in your living room like you wanted.” – L&D Nurse admitting mother who had been planning a home birth but had to transfer to the hospital.

This is mine! I was planning my 2nd homebirth (3rd kiddo). My water broke and despite trying everything, my contractions would not start. My midwife had to send me to the hospital. During the registration process, one of my L&D nurses said this. The doctor and the nurses were all awesome and so sympathetic to the fact that I was not getting what I wanted.

Rest of the story – They started pitocin which did start my contractions, but my son’s heart rate would dip every time I had a contraction. After trying me changing positions multiple times and trying to add water back into my womb, nothing was helping with the decels and he was not going to be able to tolerate labor, as I was only dilated to a 4. We decided on a c-section and it turned out that he had the cord wrapped very tightly around his neck twice. You hear all the scare tactics, but he truly would not have been born alive without the c-section.

That’s really an amazing birth story, and it sounds as if the whole system worked exactly as it was supposed to. Your body did what it needed to, your midwife reacted appropriately, the doctor and nurses recognized your baby’s problems, and throughout, you and your baby were treated with respect. Kudos! :-)

It’s such a simple thing, to offer an apology and some empathy to someone like this. Such a simple thing and it’s frequently overlooked. Tasha, I’m so glad that you and your son were able to get the help you needed! I agree wholeheartedly with Jane… your story shows how the system should work!